Before the Rain Breaks Page 6

  “I don’t know. It could have been a random thing. Or it could have been him. Or it could have been someone after your friend. We just won’t know yet.” Dom’s eyes held compassion. “But no matter what that ass Kimbell may have said, I believe you. And I’m not stopping until I find the answers. Document everything. Every time something happens, every time you call the police. Every dropped phone call or strange email message or social media tag. In today’s society, more and more stalking events are happening on online.”

  “I don’t know who would do this.” She was shivering, frightened.

  He wanted to find the man responsible for this and tear him apart with his bare hands.

  “It might not be anyone you know. Maybe someone you’ve brushed up against at the hospital. Or anywhere else you’ve been.” Dom was a compassionate guy, even if he was in a perpetual bad mood. And he knew what he was talking about.

  Virat asked him a series of questions, but none of the answers were super satisfying.

  Basically, until the guy did something else to reveal himself, Fin had to live afraid.

  Nothing about that made sense.

  “Come on. I’m taking you home.”

  Chapter 35

  He carried her into her own home. Fin just wrapped her arms around his neck and clung. “I...is this ever going to end?”

  “It will. Dom is good at what he does. Are you hungry?” Virat had perfect arms, strong enough to fight back any storm. Fin closed her eyes as he lowered her to the couch in the main living room. Her home wasn’t as big as Mel and Houghton’s, but it wasn’t a small home by anyone’s standards. Virat had made it seem less empty since he’d started being there with her.

  Fin should probably tell him that. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “But you can’t stay forever.”

  “Can’t I? I’ll stay as long as you need me to.”

  “I just...want normal. Once all of this ends, then we can talk more?” She looked up at him, knowing that her confusion had to be written everywhere on her face.

  She’d never had a relationship with a man feel like this. This deep.

  This real.

  Fin knew herself well. She hadn’t ever trusted herself enough to let a man who would make her vulnerable in.

  But Virat...Virat would never knowingly hurt her.

  She knew that to the bottom of her soul.

  “You know we can.” He settled on the couch next to her. Fin wasn’t having any of that. Before he could protest—not that she thought he would—she slipped into his lap.

  Then those strong arms tightened around her and he felt absolutely perfect holding her. Tears flooded her eyes. “I—”

  “You were scared. I know. So was I. I can’t stand the thought of you hurting. And I never should have let you and Nikkie Jean cross the street alone—”

  Fin laughed.

  She couldn’t help it. “We’re adults. We should have been able to cross the street alone.”

  “I suppose so. Although, it’s really hard not to see Nikkie Jean as a little sister. She reminds me of my sister Ananya. That same pestering spirit—and Ana is not much bigger.”

  “It’s my fault what happened.”

  “No. It’s his. The driver’s all the way. You didn’t ask for this. Didn’t encourage it. It’s not your fault.”

  “She was hurt because of—”

  “Because of him. If it was some guy after Nikkie Jean and you were hurt instead, would you blame her?”

  Fin knew he was right. “It’s just too much like it was before...”

  “When you were a teenager. I’ve heard the rumors.”

  She’d never told anyone except the other women in her therapy group at W4HAV what had happened. She’d never trusted anyone enough to share.

  But she did now. She told him everything, told him it had made her feel, how she had hidden herself away in her mausoleum of a house.

  She’d never felt as exposed and raw as she did when she was finished.

  Nor had she ever felt such a connection with any man in her life.

  As they lay in her bed, Fin just prayed that connection would continue forever.

  Chapter 36

  Virat went looking for her after her shift two days after she’d returned to work. She’d texted him that Vince and Tony from security had walked her over to W4HAV. She was going to stay there until he could collect her. Then she’d drive them both back to her place.

  His car was at the mechanic’s for routine maintenance. Fin had enjoyed being the one to drive them in that morning. She’d scared the hell out of him.

  Fin liked to fly over the roads when she drove.

  She was fearless behind the wheel. She terrified him.

  She’d sent him a smiling pic of her and Izzie and a bunch of fliers advertising the upcoming benefit choir—that Fin had organized herself. She’d already recruited him and Cage to serve as ushers at the door. Rafe had been recruited, along with Houghton Barratt, to collect the actual pledges.

  It was obvious that Fin had great skills in fund-raising. And organization.

  He predicted he’d be doing a lot more volunteer work in his future.

  He didn’t mind. He felt a duty to help where he could.

  Thunder rumbled overhead. The weather reports stated more storms were on the way, but they hadn’t been expected to be severe. Still, that could change in any moment. It was Tornado Alley, after all.

  He’d collect Fin, take her home, and then they would snuggle on her couch. Thomason had taken to giving them privacy as soon as they walked in the door. He hadn’t come out and said anything, but Virat got the impression that the man approved of Virat’s presence.

  The security guard Ray crossed the road at the crosswalk about fifteen feet in front of him.

  He stopped at the row of parked vehicles. Ray looked around.

  Something about the guard’s mannerisms struck Virat as odd. Virat stopped walking. Watched.

  When the guard lifted the wiper of Fin’s car and slipped something beneath it, Virat cursed.

  He jogged across the parking lot. “What are you doing?”

  The guard turned. “Get the hell away from me!”

  “It’s you.” The fear and pain Fin had suffered flooded him, pushing his rage. Nikkie Jean could have died because of Ray. They both could have died. Because of Ray.

  Virat clenched his fists. He took a step toward the guard.

  Ray cursed and lunged. Virat jerked out of the way, but the guy’s punch had connected.

  He fought every instinct telling him to tear the man into pieces.

  There was a familiar envelope on Fin’s windshield. Every moment of fear Fin had experienced. The weeks she’d been so afraid and so alone...

  Ray took off.

  Virat started after him, but stopped himself. He wasn’t about to leave Fin across the street alone while he ran after a security guard. A guard who could very well be armed. Rage was one thing; stupidity was another.

  His first priority was to protect Fin. To be with her.

  Because he loved her. Just how deeply almost knocked him down to the ground faster than the wind ever could. He loved that woman, and that was never going to change.

  Finding Fin and making certain she was safe was far more important than chasing down Ray.

  He’d leave that for Dom and the TSP. He needed to find Fin.

  He grabbed his phone instead.

  **

  “I’m going to head across the parking lot to meet Virat before the rain breaks loose,” Fin told Izzie. “I’ll see you later. Don’t work too hard, tonight.”

  “The storm will bring out the weird cases. It always happens that way,” Izzie said. “And I’m working a double. I need to get going in a few. I’m supposed to clock in thirty minutes from now, and I need to find Annie before she heads out to meet the mayor.”

  “Turner is remarkably reasonable,” Fin told her. “If he can
help Annie and her family, he will.”

  “The big word in that is if. I don’t see how anything is going to fix this.” Izzie lifted another box of fliers onto the shelf next to the receptionist Robin’s desk. Robin would hand them out when people entered the building. Fin would see to it that the nurses at the hospital also made them available. “I think it’s legal. According to what my cousin Phillip said. He works with the prosecutor’s office.”

  “I just...hope everything works out for Annie.” Fin saw the same worry she felt reflected in Izzie’s eyes. Annie and her mother had taken in a friend’s children two years ago. If they were displaced, Annie was terrified what would happen to the kids she loved so much.

  “Me, too.”

  “I’ll keep calling people. See what I can do.” Fin had connections everywhere and she’d been trying to use them to find a solution to Annie’s problem, but it hadn’t panned out yet. But she wasn’t going to stop trying. “I can see Virat. I’m going to go. Talk to you tomorrow!”

  “Be careful! I’ll wait for Robin to get in. Then I’ll follow you over there. Grab something from the vending machine and look for Annie.”

  “Try to make it before the storm if you can.” Fin shivered after a look at the sky. “You don’t need to be out in any lightning.”

  “I gotcha. Go. I think I see a handsome surgeon in your immediate future.”

  Fin followed Izzie’s gaze. Virat was jogging across the parking lot now. “Ok, I’m gone.”

  She opened the glass doors to W4HAV and went out to meet him.

  Chapter 37

  That had been stupid. Ray knew it had been a risk, but he had wanted to give her at least one more letter. To let her know that he still cared for her. And wanted her. In spite of her relationship with Virat Patel.

  He hadn’t exactly been a saint before he’d met her. He couldn’t expect her to be a virgin. Not at thirty. To even think that was stupid.

  Maybe his aunt and uncle and Reggie were right. Maybe he did need to learn how to control his reactions to things.

  No doubt Virat Patel would turn him in.

  Ray would get his stuff and get out of there.

  He didn’t want to go back to prison.

  For a moment, he considered finding her and just taking her with him. They could leave. Go to Mexico or Canada. Start a new life.

  But that was stupid.

  Fin wouldn’t want to leave everything for him. The siren sounded. The tornado siren. Ray didn’t know what to do. He knew what the policy for the hospital was. But he didn’t give a shit.

  He wouldn’t be working there anymore anyway. Hopefully, the storm would just blow the whole place down to the ground, with everybody in it.

  Ray would just get in his truck and get out of there. He’d come back for Fin later.

  It was better for them to spend a little time apart now than for him to go back to jail for punching Dr. Patel, even if the guy had deserved it.

  Chapter 38

  Virat wrapped her in his arms and held her for a quick moment as the wind picked up around them. “Come on. We need to get back inside.”

  “What’s happened?”

  “It’s Ray. I caught him putting a letter on your car. We need to get inside the hospital and call Dom.”

  “But Ray’s in there.”

  “And so are Vincent and Tony and Rafe and others. I want you surrounded by people, fast.” He almost had to yell to be heard. Thunder rumbled overhead.

  Decision made. He was getting her inside.

  They hurried toward the side entrance, which was about three hundred feet closer than the front. Fin clung to his hand as the wind picked up.

  A loud siren she immediately recognized sounded.

  “Come on!” He pulled on her hand. It was the only connection she could actually feel, as the wind plastered her clothes to her body and hail rained down over them.

  “Virat!” Her hand slipped from his.

  He stopped and wrapped his arm around her back. “We’re not going to make it inside in time!”

  It was the only connection she could actually feel, as the wind plastered her clothes to her body and hail rained down over them.

  “Virat!” Her hand slipped from his.

  He stopped and wrapped his arm around her back. “We’re not going to make it inside in time!”

  **

  They only had one clear option. Virat tightened his hold on her as the wind threatened to tear them from each other. “The elevator!”

  If he could get her inside the service elevator fifty feet away, they would have shelter.

  He knew the odds.

  The hospital taking a direct hit would be a long shot. As long as they could get inside and away from the chance of impact injuries from flying debris, they’d be ok.

  He ran, pulling her along with him.

  They got lucky. He slammed his hand against the open button, and it lit up.

  It seemed like an hour before the door slid open. He ushered her inside then took one more look around outside the elevator. If there was someone else out there, he wasn’t about to close the door in their faces.

  But he saw no one.

  He hit the close button quickly.

  The roar of the wind was overwhelming. He didn’t say a word to her—she wouldn’t be able to hear him, if he did.

  Virat wiped the rain from his eyes and finally looked at her.

  The lights flickered. When they came back on, he opened his arms, and she flew into them.

  Roaring echoed around them. He wrapped her tight against him and pulled her to the floor. He tucked one arm over her head and just held her until it was over.

  Chapter 39

  She’d been through a tornado before. Fin would never forget the sounds, first of all. Some said it was like a train going by, but it was far different than that. The elevator, actually in the parking garage, shook around them.

  Fin couldn’t help it—she actually screamed.

  If the storm destroyed the parking garage, she and Virat most likely would not survive.

  She’d seen what crushing injuries could do to a person. Her arm slipped around his neck, and she just clung to him.

  She didn’t want everything to end now, before she’d ever had a chance to explore what life could be like with him.

  It wasn’t fair.

  The sound quadrupled overhead. A screeching sound unlike anything she’d ever heard before roared.

  Fin buried her head in his chest and just held on.

  Virat’s arms tightened around her. One arm was over her head. He was protecting her. Always protecting her.

  “I love you.” She whispered the words against his neck. He wouldn’t be able to hear her, but she wanted to say it. Just once.

  He cupped the back of her head. Fin looked up at him.

  He knew. He hadn’t heard her, but he’d known what she’d said.

  His mouth covered hers. She kissed him, with every bit of emotion she could.

  He kissed her back and held her until the wind stopped blowing.

  They didn’t speak. They didn’t have to.

  “It’s over. I think it’s over,” he whispered over her head not even fifteen minutes after they’d ran into the elevator.

  “We need to get out of here. Izzie was going to walk over from W4HAV right after me.”

  Worry flashed in his eyes in the low light of the backup generator. “Iz is smart. I’m sure she’s still at W4HAV, just waiting out the storm.”

  “I hope. If W4HAV is still standing.” Fin knew the damage tornadoes could do. If the storm had been strong enough to rattle a three-story parking garage the way it had, a three-story brick building built in the late 1800s wouldn’t have stood a chance.

  Fin fought off the tremors. It was shock. As a physician, she understood that. It was shock and fear for the people she loved who were out there somewhere.

  Virat kissed her once, hard and fierce. “I love you, Finley Coulter. Don’t forget that anytime
soon.”

  “Don’t worry; I won’t.”

  He hugged her then lifted her off his lap. He stood and then pulled her to her feet. “The door should open. The emergency generator should ensure that.”

  As soon as he spoke the words, the elevator jerked and started its descent to the first floor level. Fin knew how the backup power systems worked. “It’ll open when we get to the first floor.”

  They waited.

  It didn’t open.

  Virat pounded against the door. He yelled.

  Fin tried not to panic. She grabbed her cell phone, not surprised to see that there was no signal.

  A screech of metal tearing had her screaming.

  Fin would admit it; she was close to panicking.

  Virat kept yelling, but he reached for her hand. It helped.

  The screeching stopped.

  Fin heard the yelling from outside the elevator. Her eyes met Virat’s.

  They yelled together.

  Someone knew they were trapped in there.

  It was just a matter of time before they were rescued.

  Fin threw herself into his arms. “We’re going to be ok.”

  “We will. I swear, we will. And when we get out of here, and we deal with the chaos of the storm, we’ll sit down and talk. Decide just how we’re going to do this. Because, Fin, I never want to let you go ever again.”

  “I can work with that. I can so work with that.”

  Epilogue

  Virat didn’t know where Fin had ended up. But for once, he didn’t have to be afraid for her safety. Not now.

  Ray had been found dead in parking lot C. From the debris surrounding him, Tony had thought the other security guard had been struck by airborne concrete.

  It almost made Virat sick to think about it.

  It was not the solution he ever would have wanted.

  He’d tried texting Dom Alcardi, but the TSP had taken a direct hit from the tornado. No one knew exactly what the situation was over there.

  Vince had told him that Dom had texted him when he’d gotten a chance, but realistically, it was going to take several days before something as low priority as Fin’s case.